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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  February 7, 2013 6:00am-8:00am PST

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>> given previous remarks before this group has mentioned controversies, it's his second term. we've seen obama is free to speak his mind in a way that presidents are able to do when they're never going to face the voters again and yes, he'll talk about unity, which has been a lifelong theme for owe ba that but i think he would be remiss if he didn't mention something about the controversy surrounding this group, even if it's in a subtle way. >> do you expect that to happen, abby? >> i think as we saw at the inauguration as he hit paul ryan on some of his statements, i think he'll do that in a similar way but i think he'll use the platform to talk about what unites us as americans, what unites us through religious leaders, they're all under the same roof believing in something bigger than themselves and focus on equality and stay away from making them totally angry. >> that would be the headline
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coming out of the prayer breakfast. >> mr. sacorides what do you think? >> it is fine and good to talk about common ground on the occasion of the national prayer breakfast but it's also important to talk about how the fact that in this country, we're for equality, that's what our founding fathers were all about, that's one of our founding principles and why everybody in the country has to be treated equally. >> it's taken us a while to get to some of that from our founding fathers, that's a topic for another day. we're out of time, watching the national prayer breakfast expecting to hear from president obama, that's going to be happening any moment now. want to get to "cnn newsroom" with carol costello, beginnins right now. happening now in "the newsroom," weekend whiteout the northeast about to get pounded by a monster snowstorm. some spots could get two feet of snow. people are talking is this the
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blizzard of '78? ♪ america exposure or exploitation. first "snl" then the bowl, now the movies? >> the wound is way too fresh. >> we want to tell a beautiful, gripping story about a family's struggle. >> when it comes to the newtown kids, where's the line? plus this. ♪ we are never, ever, ever >> reporter: wardrobe warning, no butts no, breasts, no exceptions from the grammys. and this -- >> to boldly go where no man has gone before. >> schatner back in space, chatting with the canadian astronaut chris hatfield from 200 miles above earth. we've got the conversation live. "newsroom" starts now. good morning, thank you so much for being with me. i'm carol costello.
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we begin this morning with an historic winter storm gaining steam and taking aim. this is a live weather cam shot from graeen bay, wisconsin, and this is half of the storm from this weekend. the other half forming in the southeast, combined this new storm could dump a foot of snow or more on new england and it's already drawing comparisons to the crippling blizzard 35 years ago this week. millions of you probably remember the so-called great blizzard of 1978. that storm brought the region so its knees. three feet of snow, dozens of deaths, thousands of cars stranded. indra pede tersons is in the weather center. >> this could be a record-breaking storm. way tonight quickly get to how this is expected to form. we're currently watching a low forming into the southeast, heavy showers. then as this low builds and moves up towards the carolinas, we're going to start watching heavy rain and wind. we keep talking about these two storms emerging.
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as you can see as we go forward in time here, this will become one large bull's eye, a big nor'easter starts to form and everything's going to be in fact dealing with where the position of this low is. we'll start to be watching close to the coastline or far away. we have our moisture and at the freezing line, if it drops farther to the south, of course you have more cold air, we're talking about heavier snow totals there as well. notice how large of an area this will be impacting, winter storm watches in effect. the second portion over green bay, wisconsin, where we'll talk about eight to ten inches of snow and keep in mind these models have a huge variance out there for the mountains. we'll continue to watch as the future models come out. >> indra petersons, thanks. manhunt under way in california. former los angeles police officer, 33-year-old christopher jordan dorner is wanted in the murder of another former cop's daughter and her fiance. monica quan and keith lawrence were found shot to death sunday night in the parking garage of
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their irvine, california, condo complex. lawrence was a police officer at the university of southern california, quan an assistant women's basketball coach at cal state fullerton. here is what irvine's police chief said about the case. >> detectives have been working day and night since this tragedy. today we identified christopher jordan dorner as a subject in the double homicide. dorner was an officer in 2009 and reservist for the united states navy. of particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multipage manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings. >> in that manifesto dorner threatened to hurt police officers and their families according to the "l.a. times," dorner was angry with quan's father, he's now retired and may have been involved in dorner's firing in 2009. now the manifesto the writings were posted earlier on a message board. in the meantime authorities say dorner may be involved in three
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new shootings just this morning, near los angeles. one officer is dead and two others were hurt. on the phone right now, cnn's paul vercannon. this is frightening. >> it is. certainly the los angeles police department they have department headquarters at los angeles and numerous officers out to search for dorner. where one of the shootings occurred where an officer wound up dead and another hurt, they were going into a protective mode. you hear apparently dorner had threatened numerous officers and what they were doing was trying to get to those officers and their families and protect them from dorner. he talks about threatening the families of other officers.
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now to mysterious new twists in a murder case that rocked washington and captivated the nation, it's the 2001 killing of chandra leavy. her death was tragic, but it was her final months as a congressional intern that drew all the attention. it wasn't long after the bill clinton/monica lewinsky scandal and the news media seized on revelations that levy was having an affair with her married boss then congressman gary condit. he was later cleared but his political career ruined. more than nine years after the killing, an illegal immigrant from el salvador was convicted of levy's murder. there is word that conviction will be tossed out. brian todd is in washington, good morning, brian. >> reporter: good morning, c carol. because the judge has kept contents of two recent hearings under seal much of this is still a mystery this morning.
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we do know as you mentioned that the man convicted of murdering chandra levy, a salvadoran immigrant is being fwrut court today, he's been in prison in alabama. in december and january the presiding judge in the case held two hearings he's kept under seal. according to court papers filed by media organizations trying to get the hearings unsealed, prosecutors recently notified the court of potential evidence that might have to do with the credibility of a prosecution witness. we do not know what the issue is or who that witness is. one key witness for the prosecution was armando morales, a convicted felon and a former gang member who testified that ing march guandique confessed in prison he killed chandra levy. it's not clear morales is the witness in question. the judge kept it under seal citing safety reasons.
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it's not clear what the reasons are or whose safety he's concerned about. lot of mystery surrounding the hearing. not quite sure whether the judge will let the media observe today's hearing but we do know the man convicted of killing cha chandra levy is going to be there. also on capitol hill the lawmakers who watch over the nation's intelligence community had their hands on classified documents, the topic, when u.s. drones can legally kill americans overseas. president obama has agreed to the release only after caving in to the demands of congress. and today, in a senate confirmation hearing lawmakers will grill john brennan, obama's choice to lead the cia and also an architect of the drone program and a vocal supporter. >> we conduct targeted strikes because they are necessary to mitigate an actual ongoing threat to stop plots, prevent future attacks, and to save
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american lives. >> but it was the killing of an american citizen in yemen that raises all the questions. u.s. drones killed u.s.-born cleric anwar al awlaki, he was tied to the terrorist plots including the underwear bomber but never charged in u.s. court. iran claims it has unlocked the encrypted surveillance images from a spy plane drone. cnn cannot independently verify the authenticity video which is running on iranian state television and youtube. >> translator: this aircraft has had many flights in countries around iran and operations that have taken place in pakistan, this aircraft has provided guidance. >> the u.s. has never confirmed that iran shot down the drone, only it somehow vanished over iran. president obama asked iran to return it but the regime has
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refused. the children of newtown, connecticut, have been in the spotlight ever since that deadly shooting inside sandy hook elementary school back in december. the focus has been on bringing life back to normal but some of the kids have taken part in public displays like singing "america the beautiful" request with jennifer hudson before the super bowl. ♪ america, america, god shed his grace on thee ♪ >> some of these kids will also take part in a grammy pre-show that airs on sunday on the e! entertainment network. question this morning, are these kids being exploited? how can they return to a normal life? poppy harlow is live in new york for us. good morning, poppy. >> good morning, carol. the big question is right now, should a movie tied to the newtown tragedy be made or is it far too soon for this town reeling from that massacre, but it really begs an even bigger
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question, and that is, where should the line be drawn. what is good for these children in terms of exposure, what is good for this town, and what is just exploitation? >> i think we want to tell a beautiful, gripping story about a family's struggle. >> reporter: that's film producer carina rush who came to survey the location for a new film called "illness" about a 13-year-old boy's struggle with mental illness. >> what happens to them is kind of triggered by the newtown story. >> reporter: but ridgefield's top official says no way. >> the bottom line to us is, anything, whether it's based on, inspired by mental health that concerns newtown and that tragedy, the wound is still way too fresh for anything to be done like that. >> reporter: it begs the question, where should the line be drawn? ♪ america, america >> reporter: we've seen sandy hook elementary kids perform at
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the super bowl, and the newtown choir sing at a knicks game. sabrina post directs the choir. her kids' choir will perform "call me maybe" for ryan seacrest grammy red carpet pre-show on e!. where is it too much exposure, exploitation and where is it beneficial to the kids and the town? >> anything we can do, given our talents to help that specifically, is to me a really great thing and the line should not be drawn as long as it benefits that purpose. >> reporter: and then there's us, the media, where do we draw the line? there are important stories to tell here, and some in newtown have welcomed us, but others have told me it's just time to leave, and that's completely understandable. >> you have to answer that question. have you crossed that line? has the media gotten to the point where it now is the word
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newtown, is a news item, and it allows you to go to the front of the page and get the recognition. i think we all have to do some soul-searching. >> reporter: media critic howie kurtz has this take. >> once we drag these children in front of the camera and have them saying more than two or three times, it feels like it's about ratings, it feels like it's about grabbing attention, it feels like it's about everything but remembering the tragedy that happened to some of their classmates in that elementary school. >> and you know, carol, we talked to a father who has two young children that go to sandy hook elementary and he's really torn. he said it's a fine line. it's good to keep these kids in this town in the spotlight, so that the debate over gun control continues, and people keep talking about it, but it's a very fine line he says between that and exploiting the kids and making a statement. now as for that film the man in charge of the town where they want to make it said he hasn't even been called by the filmmakers. he's shocked about that. filmmakers are saying if they make it and make money they'll
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donate it to a foundation to treat mental illness but a lot of big questions. people are outraged about that film. that's where they seem to be drawing the line. >> it's our talk back question of the day. have we come to the point where we're exploiting the children of newtown? facebook.com/carolcnn if you want to weigh in. poppy harlow thanks so yto you. still ahead should the post office be privatizeprivatized?
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16 minutes past the hour. anonymous is claiming responsibility for hacking the federal reserve's website. spokesman for the central bank says a third party obtained info and the problem has now been fixed. some reports indicate the hackers gains access to a huge data base of bankers' contact information. now look at what happened when a 70-year-old man got confused while trying to find a parking spot. you see his camera stuck between a concrete wall and a building. the driver mistakenly stepped on the fas gas and the car flew like a rocket over a guardrail. luckily no one was hurt. even though federal officials grounded all of boeing's 787 they're allowing one exception. the faa granted one freshly painted dreamliner to fly from texas to washington, no passengers on board.
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the crew must monitor the battery. investigators are looking for the cause of several battery fires on dreamliner. to a disturbing story out of kansas city, missouri, a teenager is removed from his home after being found hand cuffed in the base. . he told police he'd been hand cuffed since september. now the teen's father, brother and older stepmother are being questioned. casey wian is live. >> reporter: good morning, carol. this is where it happened in this home right behind me. you can see there's a small window there nearly at ground level and that's where police say that 17-year-old boy was handcuffed to a steel support pole, basically handcuffed nearly around the clock since september. the boy told police according to the police report that he was let off of his handcuffs about three times a day for meals and to go to the bathroom. other than that, he was chained inside that basement four
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months. the father pulled him out of school back in september. police say that the boy appeared very, very fragile, very, very malnourished, his cheeks were sucked in, and they said that he had sort of a desperate, vacant look in his eyes. when police went downstairs into that basement for the first time, the boy's initial reaction was "i didn't do anything. i didn't do anything." they found him in a fetal position on the floor. here's what one neighbor had to say about the boy and what she had seen. >> the brother said that he had hit his mom and said that he was on permanent house arrest. there was a couple times they came over here after school and he was sleeping on her front porch, because they wouldn't let him in the house. it was sad, very sad. we cried a lot yesterday, because we were friends with them. >> reporter: earlier this week police took the boy to the
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hospital. he is now in protective custody. the adults who were living in the home are being investigated, as you mentioned, carol, but prosecutors and police say they're not talking about any potential charges at this point. carol? >> casey wian reporting live from kansas city this morning. news the postal service is cutting saturday delivery sparked question about whether the 237-year-old institution should be privatized. critics including postal service workers, the union, says that's a bad idea but others say it's the best way to save an important agency that ended last year's $16 billion in the red. athena jones is in washington this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. it's not just scholars and academics talking about whether the postal service should be privatized. people we spoke with, customers, people who are postal customers say if a private person ran this postal service like a business, it would do better. people who were pro-privatization say that this would spark innovation, it would
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free the u.s. postal service from government interference, they believe government makes it too difficult for the postal service to solve the problems that it has and doing so would allow them to cut costs more easily, to down size, increase efficiency and thereby maintain profitability. that's another way of saying closing offices that don't bring in enough revenue to cover their costs and cutting more staff more easily so that's the argument in favor, carol. >> so what obstacles would there be to privatizing the postal service? >> one big obstacle would be congress. this is a quasi-independent operation but it still is under the control in some ways partly of congress and so you need congressional approval. right now there's not any of the bills being put forward to try to reform or help the postal service, none of those really address privatization. we were able to ask the postmaster general about this yesterday and he said privatizing the postal service would mean you couldn't provide universal service at a universal price across the country.
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>> athena jones reporting live from washington. the cute newtown kids singers, they're everywhere. "snl" the super bowl, the nba, but are they being exploited now? it's our talk back question. facebo facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me @carolcnn. [ female announcer ] ready to mix things up with lean cuisine? try our entrees, snacks and new salads. wild salmon with basil, garlic chicken spring rolls, and now salads, like asian-style chicken. enjoy 100 delicious varieties under 400 calories.
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now is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. are the newtown kids being exploited? suddenly the newtown kids are stars. shortly after the massacre at sandy hook elementary school they popped up on "saturday night live." ♪ all is calm, all is bright >> it was a touching moment and we thought that would be it. now these kids seem to be everywhere, at the super bowl. ♪ o, beautiful for spacious skies ♪ >> and then at a knicks game and there's a movie in the works about a mentally ill child whose illness is triggered by the sandy hook tragedy. to some close to newtown, it's
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crossed the line. >> the bottom line to us is anything whether it's based on, inspired by mental health that concerns newtown and that tragedy, the wound is still way too fresh for anything to be done like that. >> kind of swallowed a bunch of bowling balls. >> and now we learn the e! network home of joan rivers, the fashion police and the kardashians will feature the newtown kids via satellite in the grammy red carpet pre-show, to sing the wildly popular song "call me maybe" the one about the girl who pines over a guy who turns out to be gay. ♪ hey, i just met you and this is crazy ♪ ♪ but here's my number, so call me maybe ♪ >> call me tacky maybe? sabrina post's choir who will sing on grammy night disagrees. >> anything we can do, given our
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talents to help that specifically is to me a really great thing and the line should not be drawn as long as it benefits that purpose. >> her group also recorded a version of "over the rainbow" with downloads raising money for a youth organization in newtown. howie kurtz says it seems more about ratings than anything else. talkback, are the newtown kids being exploited? face book.com/carolcnn or tweet me @carolcnn. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do. face time and think time make a difference.
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i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. political buzz is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day, three topics, 30 seconds on the clock, playing with us today anna navarro, cnn contributor and public strategist and john avlon, senior columnist for "newsweek"
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and "the daily beast." >> good morning. >> good morning. >> first question, senator marco rubio a "the washington post" blog calls him the new leader of the republican party. rubio checked several boxes, he's from the vote rich state of florida, he's young, he's latino, a fact that will be on full display after next week's state of the union when rubio gives the republican response in english and spanish. hey at least we know rubio's spanish will be better than michael bloomberg's. >> let me summarize in spanish for our spanish speaking new yorkers. [ speaking in spanish ]. >> it's like spanish speaker saying, say what? but the question this morning, is marco rubio's english/spanish response enough to make
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hispanics to fall in love with the republican party? >> a single speech won't do it but it's an important symbol and step and a proud moment for hispanics to happen. marco rubio got picked not because he's a token hispanic. he got picked because he's probably the most eloquent speaker in politics today. when he speaks about american exceptionalism and speaks about freedom and lifting yourself up from humble roots' peels to hispanics and appeals to all americans and is perfectly situated to give this response on monday. it's not going to be a bobby jindal moment. >> right at the buzzer. it's a step in the right direction but not sufficient. it sends a sign to the hispanic community in america which is extraordinarily diverse that the republican party is interested in reaching out and competing to are their vote, something mitt romney didn't do. the republicans have to address the tone and substance.
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eric cantor backing the dream act this past week. it's about the substabs and you really want to reach out to the community. >> after the big tragedy of newtown there's stars from "saturday night live" to the super bowl and soon to be featured in a pregamy show on the e! entertainment network. question, have we crossed the line to exploiting the survivors? >> i don't think so. i suppose the rendition of "call me maybe" is enough of a n nonsequitur is begs the question. with the super bowl this is an intention to honor kids to give them something positive to look forward to, that comes from a good place, not remotely exploittative place. >> anna? >> it's entirely up to the parents. nobody knows better than the parents what's good and bad for
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these kids. certainly this is a nation that felt that deeply, emotionally and wants to honor the kids so it comes from a deeply emotional-held belief of honoring the kids and victims and keeping them in our memory but i think the people that have to police whether it's good or bad, crossing the line or not are the parents of the children. >> okay, third question, here's a little advice, don't ever, ever question chris christie about his weight. a former white house physician said she feared christie would die in office. christie told her to shut up. president doctor who wants christie to run in 2016 dipping back down. >> i've always liked him, his policies, very spunky, very feisty. it's not about politics. i have patients who suffer with
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obesity and you know look at over 30% of americans suffer with obesity. it is a huge problem and it is not a laughing matter. >> so question, is a politician's weight off limits? anna? >> nothing is off limits when you're a politician. look, certainly as somebody who struggled with her weight the entire life it's not fun to have your weight be the butt of jokes or the topic of conversation but when you're in the public limelight, when you're in a politician, everything is on the table. chris christie has to have a thick skin about this. certainly chris christie knows he's fat. he has said it and acknowledged it. [ buzzer ] >> we'll go over to john on that note. >> look, of course chris christie has a weight problem. is it a political problem maybe. at the end of the day it has not affecteded his performance of governor of new jersey and there's no way to say it would affect his performance as a
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candidate for president. >> thanks for playing we appreciate it. this morning president obama speaking at the national prayer breakfast, he of course talked about god and prayer, he also talked about the need to come together. >> this is now our fifth prayer breakfast, and it is always just a wonderful event, but i do worry sometimes that as soon ads we leave the prayer breakfast, everything we've been talking about, the whole time at the prayer breakfast, seems to be forgotten. on the same day of the prayer breakfast. [ laughter ] i mean, you'd like to think that the shelf life wasn't so short. i go back to the oval office and i start watching the cable news networks and it's like we didn't pray. and so my hope is that humility
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that that carries over every day, every moment. >> president obama at the national prayer breakfast. we'll be right back. website builder with five pages and basic email just $49.99! that's up to 76 percent below online providers and only at officemax stores! [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪ the all-new cadillac ats -- 2013 north american car of the year. ♪ for a limited time, take advantage of this exceptional offer on the all-new cadillac ats.
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♪ ooh, we called it off again last night ♪ ♪ but ooh this time i'm telling
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you, i'm telling you ♪ ♪ we are never, ever, ever getting back together ♪ okay, that is the always impeccably well dressed taylor swift except not in that video. swift will be performing sunday night on cbs on the grammy awards and the full length pajama outfit will get bonus on the sensors. you remember j. lo's versace dress from 2000? that would be a no go this year. what can and can't celebs wear at sunday night's show? a.j. hammer is here two explain the rules. >> it's always fun, carol, when people at a network try to tell artists what they can and can't wear but cbs reportedly sent out this memo and everybody's going to be showing up sunday night on the grammys. the basic message is cover uhm. so up. buttocks and breasts should be adequately covered, thong-type costumes or "problematic" bare sides, area under breasts are
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problematic, side boobs and avoid sheer or see-through clothing. if you're wondering why you have to write this memo to begin with, look at the j. lo dress from versace years ago, lil' kim stretched the boundaries with one of her outfits and look at lady gaga from the 2010 grammys, she came pretty close to cra crossing the line. it doesn't necessarily saying meat is a violation but you can understand why people write a mem low like this, whether it accomplishes what it sets out to now is what we'll be tuning in to see. do we have the carrie underwood dress? this is something they would find acceptable, carrie underwood appearing with a plunging backline but from the front everything completely covered up. >> oh, come on. >> i think, coral, this is going to cause people to want to push the boundaries more if they haven't figured out what they're wearing yet. >> if someone violates the rules, will cbs put little black
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lines over the offensive area on live television? >> i don't think so. i think they're really just trying to set a standard perhaps raise the bar or in their minds raise the bar for what we've seen in the past but again, this is music's biggest night. it is not the oscars. this is a chance to be as fashion forward as humanly possible for a lot of these artists. >> a.j. hammer, thanks so much. >> you got it. so you thought you'd get a break from political attack ads after the election. the political attack ads are back and this time they're targeting ashley judd. >> radical. >> someone from out of state who understands us hillbillies. >> i don't know a lot of hillbillies who golf, hillbilly, hillbillies. >> but ashley judd hasn't even said if she's running for senate yet. red lobster's 30 shrimp. wow, that's a lot of shrimp.
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all right that's a fifth-floor probleok.. not in my house! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! no no no! not today! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? happier than dikembe mutumbo blocking a shot. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. 45 minutes past the hour. governor chris christie is telling a former white house physician she needs to shut up about his weight because dr.
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connie mariano said she was worried that christie could die in office due to his weight. christie pointed out she has not examined him. mariano says her comments were constructive. karl rove's conservative super pack has unleashed an attack ad against ashley judd in kentucky and she hasn't even said if she's going to run for senate. >> someone from out of state who understands us hillbillies. >> i don't know about a lot of hillbillies who golf. >> her own grandmother says she's a hollywood liberal, but isn't that what we need? ashley judd an obama-following radical hollywood liberal who is right at home here in tennessee -- i mean kentucky. >> wow. judd's family is from kentucky but she later moved to tennessee. the actress is considering a run for senate in kentucky and would go up against senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. part of the northeast could get up to two feet of snow
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friday and saturday in which has been called an historic storm. blizzard warnings are issued in massachusetts and rhode island. in some places snow could fall at a rate of two to three inches per hour. from the moment that u.s. troops arrived at combat outpost keating in afghanistan they knew they were at a disadvantage, those troops would become targets in one of the deadliest attacks in the war. the bravery of those troops is told in "the outpost" by cnn anchor and chief washington correspondent jake tapper. jake is in new york to talk about his documentary on a hero from that battle, good morning, jake. >> good morning, carol. that's right, one of the heroes of that battle, former staff sergeant clint romesha will be awarded the medal of honor on monday at the white house by president obama. we went to minot, north dakota, to talk to romesha about the award and serving at combat outpost keating. what you need to understand and our listeners and viewers need to understand, this camp was put at the bottom of three steep
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mountains which ultimately were teaming with taliban fighters, so we talked about that in a special that will air at 10:00 tonight. combat outpost keating was built in 006 with so many troops and assets deployed to iraq, those in afghanistan had to make do. one part of the strategy was to build small outposts as the u.s. pushed into eastern afghanistan. the location was a trap evident from the moment the uniate rrived in may 2009. what was your first reaction? >> first reaction was i think the same as everybody that stepped foot on that, this is a pretty indefensible spot. >> i thought we were supposed to be on top of a mountain. this is crazy. i mean, that's how i felt, you know. shooting up?
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but you just, i was there, you know, i can't be like this is stupid. >> reporter: this say part of the called the hindu kush mountain range you're either on or in a valley. in order to be near the local population and near the road combat outpost keating was put at the bottom of three steep mountains. ♪ soldiers had been fatally attacked there before. in 2007, private chris pfeiffer, in 2008, camp commander captain rob yeskas and near there, a different camp commander, captain tom bostick. as lethal as its position was the outpost's terrain. the camp was named for lieutenant keating killed when his truck rolled over to the side of the road leading to the camp. >> i knew it was a bad spot and previous commanders had expired there but to set there and dig up every, you know, every little
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detail on it, you know, it just it wasn't healthy for the guys to be exposed to that kind of information. >> so your very first day at combat outpost keating, there was an attack, and a soldier with the platoon leaving shane scherre got a massive wound. others sprinkled with you an in we are not overhear selling cookies, guys. we are in a real fight. >> reporter: romesha and his men knew it was not a question of if there would be a major attack. but when. that attack finally came on october 3rd, 2009. 53 u.s. troops faced with up to 400 taliban attacking on that
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day. and former staff sergeant clint romesha's actions on that day, his valor is now going to rein him getting the congressional medal of honor. the special airs tonight at 10:00. romesha is an inspiring man. and the story of that camp, dramatic and inspiring story. >> i can't wait to see it. jake tapper, thanks for joining us in the newsroom, we appreciate it. >> reporter: thank you, carol. >> we will be right back. ring i. if your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. jackie, tell me why somebody should bring they're car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. they are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. price is right no problem, they make you feel like you're a family. get a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation and much more, $29.95 after $10.00 rebate. if you take care of your car your car will take care of you.
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. talk back question for you this morning are the newtown kids being exploited? this from ralph, if they are it's the parents fault. they could stop it and should. this from frank, having them on tv keeps them in our heads and let's us see what matters.
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from sean, of course, every time there's something we think we can sell or make a buck off, we exploit it. it's a tradition. this from frank, unfortunately, they are used as pawns to promote the liberal agenda of gun control. from sabrina, super bowl, i thought it was touching to have them singing. but that's all it should have been, using this awful situation for ratings is ridiculous. the parents should be ashamed. keep the conversation going facebook.com/carol cnn. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.
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the price for coming clean could cost lance armstrong big bucks. a promotion company is filing a lawsuit today to recover more than $10 million. joe carter is here with the bleacher report. >> reporter: yes. the sports insurance company that paid armstrong millions of dollars in bonus money during his tour de france title wins wants the money back plus interest plus legal fees. on top of that multimillion dollar lawsuit that should be filed today, armstrong could be facing federal charges. abc news says investigators are looking into charging him with obstruction, intimidation and witness tampering. also in an effort to clean up the sport of cycling, usada, the anti-doping agency, is giving armstrong two weeks to decide if he wants to speak with agency investigators under oath. the original deadline was yesterday. armstrong must come clean and tell them everything he knows,
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if he wants any shot at that lifetime bank reconsidered. after winning the super bowl on sunday, partying in the streets of baltimore on tuesday, ray lewis was in florida with his son. ray lewis iii signed a letter of intent to play at miami u. >> he's always been a hurricane at heart. this is always good, one of the greatest blessings for your son to follow in your footsteps. the exciting part is he has his mind made up about what he wants to do, his own legacy. >> reporter: signing day was not so easy for alex collins. his mom refused to cosign his letter of intent because he didn't pick the university of miami. he is considered one of the best high school runningbacks in the country, and on national tv he changed his mind and said he would play for arkansas. his mom and everybody else thought he would choose the u. she split midpress conference
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without signing the papers. she said i'm out of here. mom's grand plan did not work. espn is reporting mom will sign the papers so her son can play at arkansas. so as it goes, defending champion alabama, the rich get richer was the big winner, they took home the top recruiting class, ohio state is second, florida rounds out the top three. old miss had a great showing signing the number one player in high school football. scary moment on the show the ultimate fighter, kicked in the head, he is out cold. he said he might have killed him and thought he would be arrested. thankfully sella was not seriously injured. with all of the focus in the nfl on concussions, mixed martial arts leagues have to cross that bridge like the nfl is in the very near future. for all entertaining sports news go to bleacher report.com. you saw the scary moment on ultimate fighter, carol. what did you think of that kick?
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>> it was so vicious. and then the celebration afterwards until the other fighter finally realized, oh, i could have killed this guy. it seems to me something needs to change. because truly, that was the most horrible violent moment i've seen in sports in a long time. >> reporter: the sport has always been violent. not too many years ago we didn't even talk about that sport. now it's more accepted. but it is what it is. ufc is vicious. it goes hand in hand with the sport i'd say. >> joe carter, thanks. next hour of cnn newsroom starts now. happening now in the newsroom, pulling the veil back on the united states secret drone program. today president obama gives congress a classified document used to justify killing americans overseas. and it was supposed to be the future of flying, the dreamliner has been nothing but a nightmare for boeing. >> they've got fuel spewing out
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the left ward wing quite a bit. >> today one of the planes gets a one time special permit to fly. and from the super bowl -- ♪ america, america >> to a pregrammy performance, some question whether the children's choir from newtown is being exploited. it's the oscar nominated movie that plays to rave reviews. >> congress should not declare equal those who god created unequal. >> one congressman says it gives connecticut a bad name. newsroom starts now. good morning i'm carol costello thanks for being with me. a manhunt now underway in california. a former los angeles police officer 33-year-old christopher jordan dorner is wanted in the murder of a retired cop's daughter and her boyfriend.
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monica kwon the daughter and her fiance were found shot to death sunday near their home in irvine, california. lawrence was a public safety officer at usc kwan was an assistant women's basketball coach at cal state fullerton. this morning officials say dorner, the suspect, may be involved in three more shootings outside of los angeles. at least one police officer is dead. and two others are hurt. authorities are getting clues about the crimes from a manifesto, that the suspect, dorner, apparently posted online. and they are warning police officers to be on the lookout. joining me on the phone from riverside, california, cnn's paul vercammen. what more can you tell us about this manifesto? >> well, let me first start by saying we are here in riverside very near where the two officers were shot. and we are seeing police on high alert even when we drove up, obviously in a media car. you can see the officers had
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their finger on the trigger of their rifle, and they told us they are now fearing that the suspect could be using information to try to find and pursue other officers. they also confirmed for us, there have been two separate shootings this morning. one in corona, california. and this involves an lapd officer. and then the other shooting here in riverside, about 1:30 this morning, when two riverside police officers on what they termed to be patrol, were ambushed by the suspect who has military training or boasts of it in that manifesto. let me see if i can tell you what he said in the manifesto about all of this. he said, quote, "you are aware that i have always been the top shot, highest scorer and expert in rifle qualifications in every unit. i will utilize every bit of small arms training, demolition,
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ordinance and survival training." in this manifesto, he specifically names and warns a lot of lapd officers. he is a former lapd officer. and at the end of the manifesto, sort of a bone chilling warning, i have the strength and benefits of being unpredictable, unconventional and unforgiving, do not waste your time with briefs and table tops. the man they are looking for is conspicuous, he is 6'0", 270 founds. that is dorner. as we link these together, this is three separate incidents. the killing of the couple in irvine earlier this week, as we said confirmation that he's involved in the shooting of lapd officer in corona. police could not tell me what the officer's condition is. and then the fatal shooting of two officers this morning here in riverside. the other officer in critical condition, the riverside police
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say he was shot in the head. that's the latest right here near where these officers were shot in corona. >> unbelievable. paul vercammen, you will have much more in the newsroom later on. wow. this morning on capitol hill the lawmakers who watch over the nation's intelligence community had their hands on classified documents, the topic when u.s. drones can legally kill americans overseas without trial. president obama agreed to the release of those documents, only after caving into the demands of congress. because today in a senate confirmation hearing lawmakers will grill john brennan, obama's choice to lead the cia. he's also an architect of the drones program. and of course one of its most vocal supporters. also new today iran says it's broken the code from a u.s. drone that it captured over a year ago. iran says it has unlocked the encrypted surveillance images from the plane. cnn can not verify the authenticity of this video, which is now running on iranian
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state television and youtube. >> this aircraft has had many flights and countries around iran. in operations that have taken place in pakistan, this aircraft has provided guidance. >> the united states has never confirmed iran shot down that drone, only that it somehow vanished in iran. president obama asked iran to return the drone. but iran refused. benghazi back in the spotlight. starting this hour, a senate panel hears testimony on the pentagon's response to the attack on the u.s. consulate. senators were asked questions about an internal review following the attack. defense secretaries leon panetta is among those expected to testify. a boeing 787 dreamliner will take to the skies today without passengers. one plane with special approval from the faa will head to boeing's plant in washington state after getting a paint job in texas. only the crew will be on board. the dreamliner's design was
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revolutionary when it debuted. but its electrical system and battery problems have caused so many headaches. here's rene marsh. >> reporter: all 50 dreamliners in the world have been grounded for three weeks and scrutinized after a string of incidents. the national transportation safety board's investigation zeroes in on the plane's lithium ion batteries. one caught fire in a plane on the tarmac in boston. another burned while flying over japan forcing an emergency landing. investigators found the batteries overheated. the battery in boston showed signs of a short. >> our investigators are examining not just battery failure, we are looking at that, but we are also looking at the certification process. >> reporter: the dreamliner is the first commercial plane to depend so heavily on lithium ion batteries. they hold more energy in a lighter, smaller space.
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and were only allowed under an faa condition that special safeguards were in place. >> rene marsh joins us. there is an ntsb press in about an hour. what will we hear? >> reporter: i want to show you the two problem areas, the front and the back of the boeing dreamliner. that's where these lithium ion batteries are located. we are expecting to hear a lot about these batteries in this briefing set to begin an hour from now. specifically, we expect to hear the ntsb publicly question the process that the faa used to certify that these batteries were safe for flight. we also expect that the ntsb will question why they weren't able to detect the weaknesses with the batteries during this testing process. but what we will not get, carol, are definitive answers, as far as what caused these battery fires, the ntsb saying as recently as yesterday they are
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several weeks away from those answers. >> you will keep us posted. rene marsh reporting live from washington. steven spielberg under fire accused of fudging key facts in his blockbuster movie lincoln. one lawmaker is demanding changes before the movie comes out on dvd. clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. nine grams protein. zero fat. but that doesn't mean i don't want to make money.stor. i love making money. i try to be smart with my investments. i also try to keep my costs down. what's your plan? ishares. low cost and tax efficient. find out why nine out of ten large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing.
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. 11 minutes past the hour. parts of the northeast could get up to two feet of snow between friday and saturday in what is called an historic storm. blizzard warnings issued in massachusetts and rhode island. these are some of the possible snow totals in some places snow could fall at a rate of two to three inches per hour. take a look at what happened when a 70-year-old man got confused trying to find a parking spot. you see his camry. it is suspended over a stairwell caught between a concrete wall and building. the driver mistakenly stepped on the gas of the car, flew like a rocket through the guardrail. amazingly no one was hurt. senator marco rubio will deliver the republican response to the president's state of the union address on tuesday. rubio will give that response in
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english and spanish. the gop trying to be more inclusive of latinos one of rubio's aides says the senator is writing his own speech. in money news the hacker group anonymous is claiming responsibility for hacking the web site of the federal reserve and stealing the contact information of more than 4,000 bankers. that breech is raising questions about the security at the central bank. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. how did this happen? >> reporter: how did it happen? that's a good question. fed is not giving many details at this point. only to say that yes, they are aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a web site vendor product. the fed says the exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue, the fed only saying an outside party hacked a federal reserve web site. keep in mind the fed has many web sites, it's not saying which one was hacked. only it didn't affect critical operations. what reuters is saying, this was a database meant for
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communication that happens between banks, when there is a natural disaster. reuters is reporting that a group affiliated with anonymous, this group took to twitter on sunday saying we did it, we took email addresses, phone numbers, all of this stolen stuff and published this on a web site, where the data can be downloaded. keep in mind this isn't the first time this happened. other sites that anonymous has taken down include recording industry association, amazon and doj. not so sure why they targeted the fed but it is raising questions about security. >> it sure does. alison kosik reporting live. more and more americans are saying they are not religious, not religious at all. the question is why? some feel a growing atheist movement is to blame. we will show you how followers are getting their message out. glucerna hunger smart shakes.s they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly
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. this morning we are taking a look at what makes america unique, specifically our melting pot of diversity. might surprise you that one in five americans now say they follow no religion at all. in today's i am america piece we look at the reasons why. here is a riddle what to comedian kathy griffin, julian moore and mark zuckerberg have in common. >> i am hopefully a famous atheist. >> they join bill mar in saying they do not believe god exists. various surveys put the number of atheists at 5%. according to a study in 2012, one in five people claim they have no religious affiliation at all. but why? the answers vary. one reason perhaps is that the word religious is no longer necessarily associated with being a good person. then there's a very activist atheist movement underway. getting its message out not in the mainstream media. but on social media.
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take these facebook pages, for example. each has hundreds of thousands of likes as atheists challenge critics on any number of news items and social issues. activist atheists have taken to youtube with huge audiences following. meet amazing atheist guy, that's what he calls himself. here he is rallying against christian evangelical who after the newtown massacre tried to put the blame on godless schools. >> we kicked the ten commandments out of schools, we kicked god out of our public school system. i think god would say to us hey, i'll be glad to protects your children, but you have to invite me back into your world first. >> god didn't save the kids, because he's not allowed in school. so all of a sudden god just respects the law of man? isn't he an all powerful being? >> last year a massive crowd braved the cold on the national
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mall for what was billed as the reason rally. atheists were invited to attend. speakers pledged to battle prejudice and bias. >> i am here for the children in texas and other states being told lies about history and science printed in taxpayer funded textbooks. it's going to stop. >> atheist.org is putting its message up on billboards across the country. this one in patterson, new jersey home to a large muslim population reads, what do you see? 37 million americans know myths, when they see them. it's written in both english and arabic. ed if for thought. our series continues tomorrow. we will take you to iowa that has become a symbol for religious tolerance. coming up next, a special expandeddition of talkback, three guests with unique perspectives, three topics, and your responses. first question today, are the
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newtown kids being exploited? facebook.com/carol cnn or send me a tweet @carolcnn. officemax is celebrating our new collaboration with go daddy! with an online package including: domain name, website builder with five pages and basic email just $49.99!
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. 23 minutes past the hour police near los angeles are franticly searching for a former
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police officer. they say this man chris dorner, he may have shot three police officers earlier this morning killing one of them. police say he's armed and dangerous, he's also wanted for the killing of a woman and her boyfriend in orange county. today president obama expected to turn over classified documents, that seek to justify drone strikes that target and kill americans overseas. the senate intelligence committee will get a chance to look at the documents. the obama administration has come under fire for its drone strike policy. a congressman from connecticut is asking steven spielberg to fix a mistake in the movie lincoln before it comes out on dvd. the film shows two connecticut law makers voting against the amendment to end slavery. but records show that all of the lawmakers from connecticut voted for it. we will see if steven spielberg comes through. i'm thinking, not. today something new in the newsroom. talk back for 30 minutes, three topics, great guests, your input. let's get going. today's first question, are the newtown kids being exploited? suddenly the newtown kids are stars, they seem to be everywhere. at the super bowl. ♪ o beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain ♪ >> then at a knicks game, and ndho tge. movie in the works -ao carpet preshow to sing the wildly popular song call me many, the one about the girl who pines over a guy who turns out to be gay? call me tacky maybe, sabrina post who will sing disagrees saying it benefits the kids and the town. >> anything we can do, given our talents, to help that specifically, is to me a really great thing. and the line should not be drawn as long as it benefits that
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purpose. >> her group also recorded a version of somewhere over the rainbow with down loads raising money for a youth organization in newtown. still as media critic howard kurtz says dragging the kids in front of the cameras seems more about ratings than anything else. talk back question for you. are the newtown kids being exploited? facebook.com/carol cnn. or tweet me @carolcnn. and joining me to discuss this topic and more. pete dominic hosts a political talk ore xm radio. a professor at hiram college and chief correspondent. and amy kremer chairwoman of the tea party express. welcome. it's our inaugural expanded -- i'm excited. amy, i'll start with you. you have kids, pete you do, too. but i'll just flat out ask you the question. are these kids of newtown being exploited now? >> i do think they are being exploited. you know, ultimately it's up to
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the parents whether or not they participate. but i believe they are being exploited, possibly for ratings, but also to push this liberal leftist agenda about gun control. i mean, you are not -- no one is talking about the kids dying on the streets of chicago every day. so i do think it's being exploited. and i would hope that the parents would say no. >> a lot of facebook friends agree with you. i got this comment, he said unfortunately these kids are used as pawns to promote the liberal agenda of gun control. pete dominic, you have kids, would you want your kids dragged out to sing at the super bowl, if they experienced a tragedy like that? >> if it helps them cope with it, if that's something they want to do, i would talk to them about it. but first of all i push back with amy's framing this is a liberal leftist agenda of gun control. we are having an important conversation from liberals all the way to conservatives across the spectrum about what we can do to prevent these massacres. of course, she's also just wrong
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about people not talking about what's happening in chicago. president obama specifically mentions chicago almost every time he talks about this. the problem isn't mass shootings, the problem is the kind of violence that happens in high poverty areas in places like chicago. but we are having this conversation as a result of newtown, i think. that's good and it's healthy. we are getting somewhere. we are. >> i take issue with one part of what pete said. jason, i'll pose this to you. i haven't seen president obama go to chicago and talk about murders on the streets. >> no. a young lady getz shot in president obama's neighborhood and he never uses that name at all. what does call me many have to do with a bunch of kids getting shot in their school. it's tacky on the part of the parents. the jersey girls went too far after 9-11. there was a point at which you are no longer talking about the issue, you are talking about the people involved. that doesn't help raise money, it doesn't raise awareness.
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>> having this conversation is circular. for example yesterday, democrats in congress called on these movie stars and comedians from hollywood to talk about gun control. but they were preaching to the choir, amy. >> look, ultimately, it's the parents' decision, but i think it says something about society, there's a demand for this. that these kids are at the super bowl, then at the grammy's, so on and so forth. i mean, everybody grieves differently. and i'm sure that some people want this all to fade into the background, so that they can grieve. because it wasn't that long ago, and it's difficult for everyone. it breaks my heart, and i remember the day it happened. but i just think to continuously push these kids out there, it's wrong. it's wrong. >> but i disagree with all of you. i think amy is right, it says something about our culture and the demand. but were you bothered by seeing
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those kids sing at the super bowl? >> i was. >> listen, if they were my kids, if one of my kids were one of those kids killed on that day, i would want america to never forget, never forget. that's a phrase we use in reference to the holocaust. i wouldn't want america to forget about it. i would want america to try to find, our society to find solutions to these problems, compromises that maybe in the next shooting, maybe ten people die but maybe an 11th person lived. maybe that's your son, your daughter because of a background check or magazine -- >> kids singing at the super bowl will not do that. i'll be honest with you, if a member of congress -- >> it makes you feel good. >> -- gets shot in the head and we didn't get change in policy, if they are going to sing janey's got a gun, maybe. >> but you are right. that after gabby giffords shooting, nine others died, and after the virginia tech shooting, but this is different. and you are right, i don't think
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those kids singing at the super bowl will change anything. but you know what it does? reminds us of what happened. what we do too easily, we forget the bad things. only 1% of america's families are fighting in these wars. nobody thinks about the veterans. i do a segment every week on the veterans and just to make sure everybody's reminded -- >> but at some point, pete, you have to stop being emotional about it. and try to talk about it logically. >> we are. >> but we are not. >> sure, we are. >> we are talking in a circular fashion. there is one side and the other. do you see any compromise, amy? >> no. the thing is, you know how kids are, they want to be part of what all of their friends are in. and maybe the parents don't want them there to be part of this. but then they feel the pressure, because all of the other kids are going. you don't know what it's doing to the children. i mean, i don't need to see those children on my tv over and over again to be reminded about this. >> what it's doing to the child?
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what child will grow up and say i was ashamed i sang at the super bowl. that's a pretty cool thing to be able to say. >> i wish we could continue. we have to go to our next question. it's marco rubio's english spanish response to president obama's state of the union enough to make hispanic voters fall in love with the republican party? facebook.com/carol cnn. please join the conversation.
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. a washington post blog calls him the new leader of the republican party, he checked several boxes he's from the vote rich state of florida, he's young, he knows hip hop and is latino, it will be on full display after next week's state of the union.
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talking about marco rubio, he will give the republican response in english and spanish. at least we know rubio's spanish will be better than michael bloomberg's. >> let me summarize in spanish for our spanish speaking new yorkers. [ speaking in spanish ] >> adios, mayor bloomberg. the question for you is marco rubio's english/spanish response enough to make hispanic voters fall in love with the republican party. facebook.com/carol cnn or tweet me @carolcnn. also here to talk about rubio, pete dominic, jason johnson and amy kremer. welcome once again. >> we are happy to be here. >> my first question to you, jason, marco rubio will speak spanish, but it seems kind of patronizing. >> doing the response to the state of the union, it's like
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the career kiss of death. it's like being on the cover of madden, being an extra member of destiny's child, it will never get you anywhere. i don't think that's going to help him be the leader of the party. it's treating latino voters like they are stupid. they remember how the republican party behaved with immigration. just because he gives a speech in spanish will not magically change things. >> amy, conservatives, do they like marco rubio. >> yes. it's a tremendous opportunity for us. he beat who is now a democrat, charlie crist in 2010. and so he's a conservative -- i mean, haes tea party. he can reach those voters, to explain why the republican vision is good. why we need to shrink government. and grow our economy and create a pro growth environment. it's an opportunity for all americans to be in the middle class. so yes, i think it's absolutely
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a great opportunity for marco rubio to go out and do that. >> pete, you have to admit, he talked about immigration reform, something many republicans say the country needs right now. >> marco rubio really wants to make a difference, he wants to usher in comprehensive immigration reform and he and other republican senators and democratic senators met a couple weeks ago and gave an announcement about this. but unfortunately, there are so many extremists within the house republicans it will be hard to get done. in the end it's a stooge, a stunt, it's phoney. and hispanic voters will see through it. if you think giving a speech in spanish as a reaction to the president will pick off -- you are wrong. there's more to it. i would ask amy, english only is part of the republican platform. they want english only. can you imagine if a democrat gave any kind of a speech, a response, also in spanish? the right would be outraged by it. >> amy? >> honestly, pete.
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i have to disagree with you. we all know the republican party has a problem where they need to preach out to hispanics and african-americans. >> it's part of the immigration plan that english, that immigrants in this country have to learn english. >> but the republican party needs to explain itself better. they have a branding problem. i think it's great that marco rubio is going out and doing that. it shows -- >> let's be clear. it's not a branding problem. it's an intolerance problem. >> i disagree. >> it's all right to be, it's part of living in america. i'm intolerant on many issues, i won't act like i'm not. but they do have that -- colin powell said it very eloquently a couple weeks ago. >> this is a start, isn't it? >> it's a disingenuous start. you can't magically get people to change their mind because you said we lost and now i want to be your friend. a lot of african-american voters
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continued to vote republican in the '80s because they didn't trust the democrats. this is going to take a generation it's nice the republican party is starting but it won't change by 2016. >> the thing is we just elected a great new senator from texas who is of cuban descent. i have to disagree, pete, this intolerance thing, maybe there are some people that are intolerant. but you can't throw that label across all of us. >> i'm not. >> it's not enough people -- >> marco rubio, it's not like he is coming from -- i don't know, some elitist -- >> that's not the issue. the issue is speaking to -- >> we have to argue about this later. i need to take a commercial break. we will go to our next topic, should governor chris christie be publicly shamed into losing weight? facebook.com/carol cnn or tweet me @carolcnn. we'll be right back.
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we will continue talk back in just a minute first a quick check of today's top stories a disturbing story out of kansas city a teenager removed from his home after he was found handcuffed to a pole in his family's basement. he told police he had been there four months. the teenager's father, stepmother and older brother being questioned now by police. john brennan, the president's pick for cia director will face
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a tough confirmation hearing. lawmakers on both sides are upset about a program that was once overseen by brennan. a program that backed the use of drones to kill americans overseas. earlier this morning president obama spoke at the national prayer breakfast. he shared a hope that both parties will remember and carry on the lessons of past leaders. >> in the midst of all of these debates, we must keep that same humility that dr. king and lincoln, washington and all our great leaders understood is at the core of true leadership. in a democracy as big and as diverse as ours, we will encounter every opinion. >> the president joked that sometimes after the breakfast it feels like they never even prayed. to the great lakes record low water levels. detroit officials say they are
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no doubt about it new jersey governor chris christie is looming large both in terms of his size and his popularity in fact in a poll taken last month it shows nearly three quarters of voters in new jersey approve of his job as governor. but then there's christie's size. >> what about your blood sugar? >> blood sugar, also normal.
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i'm basically the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen in your life. >> that brings us to our talkback question. should chris christie be publicly shamed into losing weight? christie has a message for former white house doctor connie mariano. he told her to shut up and called the good doctor a hack, because she fears christie will die in office. >> my children saw that last night. and she sat there on tv and said i'm afraid he's going to die in office. i have four children between 9 and 19. my 12-year-old son came to me last night and said dad, are you going to die? i mean, come on. this is irresponsible stuff. >> christie then shared his vital statistics but dr. mariano did not back down. >> you know, those may be his numbers, that's great. i congratulate him. but when you see somebody, you don't have to be a doctor to look at him and realize that he
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has a problem with weight. >> still public shaming especially over your weight, never feels good. with me to talk about this pete dominic, jason johnson and amy kremer. pete, christie actually started the conversation, didn't he on david letterman show? >> yes. but he is showing how good he is at self deprecating. that's an appealing characteristic in anybody. i think that doctor is way out of line. but i was a personal trainer for seven years, i understand intimately how difficult it is to lose weight. and it could be anything from a thyroid issue to obviously genetics, i have genetic hair loss but the metabolism of a baby gazelle, so i'm lucky there. on the other hand, chris christie is a role model of sorts. so in many ways, he could do better. it would be great to see him on a treadmill on tv versus eating a doughnut, perhaps. i can see it a lot of different ways. i think that americans struggle
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with this, we have a big obesity epidemic. and there is something we need to do that especially because of the way it contributes to health care costs. >> does a politician have to be a role model in every sense? >> no. but look at president obama. i rest my case. >> i don't know what that meant. >> but you know what, i battled my weight my whole life. sure as i get off here today people will attack me on twitter over my weight. like pete said you don't know what what's going on he could have a thyroid problem. i think it's off limits. he's a role model and maybe it would be good to see him lose weight but it's hard. i don't think he should be attacked. >> you are -- amy, you are a role model, too. i know she raised three kids, she spent time working while raising those kids. now she's a leader in her political movement. i have great respect for that. that's what we need to see, character, actual character. >> being fat doesn't mean he doesn't have character.
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somebody who spent abusive hour with my trainer before coming here i can talk about how difficult it is to maintain things. but here's the thing. the fact that we are talking about this, that's the problem. not just we are judgmental, because we are, we don't like voting for people who aren't pretty. we don't like voting for women who are older. we are a sexist terrible society. blah, blah, blah. but the fact is unless he loses weight we will talk about this and not about his policies. if i were chr christie i would be running lapse around cory booker, i'd be getting this off the table so people can focus on his policies. >> i would posture this, there are many prejudices when you see a person who is obese, you don't listen to them as much. but chris christie is disproving all of those things about people who are overweight. isn't that good? >> at the end of the day, if he's comfortable with himself, then that is what matters. you have to be comfortable with yourself and in your skin. it is not like he doesn't know he has a weight problem. i think it's good he is willing
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to laugh about it and joke about it. i think that's good. i think that instead of going and crying about it behind closed doors it's good that he is comfortable with himself, and that says a lot. >> we don't care if somebody is comfortable we care if somebody is fit. bill clinton had to lose weight, barack obama stopped smoking. there are physical things that you have to do, when you are running for president in order to present an image. and unfortunately chris christie has to fix this problem. it's judgmental, the world is not fair. he needs to do something about it soon. >> i think it will hold him back. >> i think it will hold him back, too. you want to know that your president is going to survive four years. >> remember carol when we talked about john mccain's age. that came up. it was a realistic concern for people. ronald reagan, obviously. i think this is going to hold chris christie back if he has further applebitions to be president. i think we know he does. but it is out of line for someone like that doctor to
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diagnose, we have a lot of radio shows that diagnose people based on the way they look. it's irresponsible and doctors that know better wouldn't do that kind of thing. chris christie, again, i think he's a role model and could do a lot. he doesn't have to. but he could show people how hard he is trying to lose weight. i also understand how much of a struggle it is, it is difficult emotionally and physically. >> he was elected governor. would you have thought he would have been elected? >> it's fine to be governor, but that's different -- you are running against a president who was in office, who used to come out of the water like bo derek in hawaii. if chris christie doesn't fix it, it will be a problem. >> he's the governor. >> hillary clinton's age might matter. who do you choose. >> clinton is more qualified. she ends up winning. if that's what it comes down to. >> if this were a woman, it would be a lot worse. we'd be a lot more offended by that. but you make the point about him
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being a governor, there's only 50 governors in this country. this guy is working 20 hours a day. i'm not make examining cus for people not exercising a lot of us who have kids, it's hard to find time to exercise and eat right, when you want to be more responsible and take care of your kids and take care of the rest of your life. he's the governor of new jersey, a pretty busy guy. >> pete, i only have one child. but i just wanted to clarify that. i was going to say -- >> amy has 15 kids and lives in a shoe. >> right. i was going to echo what pete said about we wouldn't be having this conversation about a woman on tv. i mean, we would not be. so i think that says a lot. >> many horrible things have been said about hillary clinton. many thanks for making the debut of the expanded talk back a fabulous success. we will read your responses to today's talk back questions next.
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. now your responses to our talkback questions the first the new town kids being exploited? from this, yes, i believe these children are unfortunately being exploited by all sides, the media, the gun control folks and others. there are some people that exploit kids for ratings or politics. looking at it from the kids points of view it must be awesome to sing to the world in memory of their friends and families. talkback question two, is rubio's english spanish responses enough to make people fall in love with the republican party. i believe some will listen to rubio, but i think it will take more to make hispanic voters like the republican party. actions speak louder than